


Overt Concealment

by JantoJones



Series: Stand-alone Two (The 2nd 100) [12]
Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 13:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11105727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JantoJones/pseuds/JantoJones
Summary: There is an opening for a new Section 2 agent and someone needs to be chosen from Section 3.





	Overt Concealment

As soon as it was announced that there was an opening for a Section 2 agent, and that it would be filled by a Section 3 agent, dozens put their name down. Most Section 3s were happy with their positions, but there were some who had seen it as a consolation prize. The applicants had been whittled down to three people, who had to compete with each other to prove their worthiness. This was done in the form of an intensive training refresher, alongside several lectures. The problem was, all three were equally matched, and it was proving difficult to decide which of them had the edge. A different type of test was needed.

On the final day, Ellie Richardson, Jon Evans, and William Noble headed to the commissary after a morning of ‘How to conceal yourself in plain sight’.

“It’s a pity Kuryakin wasn’t available today after all,” Jon commented, as the three of them sat down with their food.

“Yeah,” Ellie agreed. “The guy is annoying, but he’s a master of concealment. Most people need at least a shadow to hide in, but I’ve heard he can hide in well-lit, empty room.”

“He’s good, yeah,” William chimed it, “But that might be overstating his abilities.” 

As he spoke, he glanced around the room at the other diners. There were the usual gaggles of female employees, a few Section 2s, and a table of scientists from the lab. William grimaced at the horrible crimson shirt that one of the lab boys was wearing under his white coat, but then dismissed him as his attention was called back to his colleagues.

“What did you say?” he asked.

“What do you think your chances are?” Ellie replied.

“I think we all have an equal chance.” Noble replied, glancing back at the man in the awful shirt. “Do you know that guy in the corner?”

Ellie and Jon both looked over.

“He looks familiar,” Jon answered. “I’ve definitely seen him around. After a while all those lab rats start looking the same.”

William stared hard the man. He looked smaller than the men around him, and he had dark brown hair which was combed flat, and parted quite severely, in the centre. He was also wearing wire-framed glasses, which highlighted his brown eyes.

“Are you okay, Will?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I’m just distracted thinking about this afternoon.”

Try as he might, however, William couldn’t stop looking at the crimson shirted scientist. There was something about the man’s mannerisms which reminded him of someone else, and then he noticed his hands. They seemed slightly bigger than you would expect of a smaller man.

“Back in a minute,” he mumbled to the others, as he got up and left the table.

William walked over to the corner with the scientists.

“Excuse me, Mr Kuryakin?”

The man in the crimson shirt smiled broadly and, standing up, shook William’s hand.

“Congratulations, Mr Noble,” he said warmly. “Let us join your colleagues.”

Sitting down with the three hopefuls, Illya explained how concealment was about more than just hiding.

“I have merely changed my appearance slightly, and it was enough to make me almost invisible,” he told them. “This is particularly useful for infiltrating large gatherings. Thanks to this little deception, we are now in a position to offer the Section 2 post to one of you. I imagine you are able to guess who it is to be.”

Ellie and Jon both congratulated William.

“You didn’t recognise me at first,” Illya told the new Section 2 agent. “But, I could tell by the way you kept looking over that your instincts were telling you something wasn’t right. Report to Mr Solo when you have finished your lunch.”

When Illya had left the three of them, William couldn’t keep the grin from his face. From the moment he had been recruited, his ambition had been to be a Section 2 agent. He’d finally made it.


End file.
